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Monday, June 4, 2012

Stand Up For Religious Freedom: Fri, Jun 8

Americans United - Greater Los Angeles chapter is organizing a "Stand Up for Religious Freedom" rally at the Ventura County Government Center from 11:30am to 1:30pm on Friday, June 8.

This rally is to support the US First Amendment and the restrictions placed on our government from using religious dogma as a basis for any US law, including religious exemptions to the 2010 Affordable Care Act.

An anti-First Amendment group called the National Coalition to Stop the HHS Mandate will be there as well to demand that our government ignore the First Amendment and provide a special exemption for religious groups to opt out of the contraceptive coverage requirements of the 2010 Affordable Care Act. Strangely, they are claiming that their demands are meant to "protect religious freedom", despite the results of their calls being to actually deny such exercise and force religious dogma on millions of working women in the United States.

The contraceptive coverage required by the 2010 Affordable Care Act supports the right of all women to make their own reproductive decisions. The complaint by religious groups over this requirement is based solely on religious dogma and has no secular or empirical basis. It is also rejected by the majority of Americans, including the98% of sexually active women of all faiths who regularly use birth control. We need to keep religious privilege out of our government and our laws, and expect the same respect for human rights and decency by religious groups that we expect from all other US institutions. Come out this Friday and show your support for this fundamental American value!